Things I Love 3: The Cradle Audiobooks
Great Characters, A Great World, A Great Narrator, A Great Story
I have a lot of books that I would consider my favorites. Most, (though not all) are fantasy books. It goes back to my mom reading me the Chronicles of Narnia when I was barely old enough to sound out words on my own. I have read fantasy books for as long as I’ve been reading and I still enjoy them to this day. The Cradle series by Will Wight is definitely among my top three fantasy series, but I do believe that the Cradle audiobooks are my favorites.
The Cradle series combines nearly every element of what I love about fantasy: I end up loving and rooting for all the characters, I become engrossed with learning more about how the world works, and the themes resonate with me in a way that goes beyond the fantasy world of Cradle and makes me think, “that is true.” When you combine that story with one of my favorite narrators, Travis Baldree to voice the characters, and the Cradle audiobooks are the most listened-to titles in my Audible library. While I’ve gifted and recommended these stories to many people, it’s time that I spent some words to say what I think is so great about them.
The World of Cradle
Cradle was a bit atypical for a fantasy setting. I would say that it’s probably most similar either The Last Airbender, or Dragonball Z, though I knew literally nothing about either of those worlds when I picked up the first Cradle audiobook in March of 2019. The magic system parallels martial arts more than it does mystic knowledge or arcane wisdom.
While that was new, it wasn’t that part that necessarily grabbed me. What fascinates me is the mystery, the drips of information about the world, how the magic works, where the different characters stand, and what kinds of conflicts will happen as a result of these different aspects of the world. Will Wight did a masterful job at giving glimpses of what the world had in store from the very beginning. Ironically, an early infodump scene left me energized to keep listening because I was left with so many questions that I wanted to know the answer to.
A key aspect that was clear very early in the story was the extent to which there were massive differences in power between the strongest and weakest of this world, but also that it was possible for the weak to become strong. Cradle is what’s called “Progression Fantasy” in which a key aspect of the narrative and the setting is that the characters will progress from relatively powerless to extremely strong.
Even so, what I thought was great about Cradle was the extent to which we were given glimpses of a story taking place at the highest levels of power in parallel to the main tale of our neophytes slowly getting stronger as they travel throughout their planet.
Every book of Cradle expands the setting a bit more. It does so partially by introducing new characters—almost every book until the last few sees another character get added to the “main group,” and they all have different abilities and outlooks on the world. But we also visit different places, new cities, regions, and eventually new continents before revisiting old locations that hold new secrets. However, I think the setting is mostly expanded through the progression of the main character, Lindon. As he trains new skills and abilities we learn more about how the world and the magic of the world works.
What was so cool about this magic system was that the rules were relatively straightforward (insofar as something like a magic system can be), but allowed for a great deal of variation on the part of the author. Using just a few ideas that are laid down in the first book, Will Wight assembles what amounts to a team of superheroes with vastly different powers.
Great Characters in a Brutal World
One of the most interesting things about the Cradle books is the extent to which the tone of story is in tension with the setting and the themes. Make no mistake about it, Cradle is a very hard world. Strength is the only currency that truly matters and because strength results from the sacred arts (magic) paths of individuals, allegiance to strong individuals is the primary way people get by, with a few able to go under the radar. In the world of Cradle, we see slavery, betrayal, treachery, and brutal slaughter, but so often, the tone feels incredibly light and optimistic. Why? Because the characters are so great.
The reason I think the core characters of the story are able to moderate the bleakness of the world is because they all share the fundamental conviction that they are not only responsible for making their own way, they are also capable of doing it. Even Lindon, who is initially so weak that he is considered crippled by his people, never resigns himself to his fate. And, to a certain extent, this is trait shared by all of Lindon’s eventual companions.
This isn’t to say that all the characters are the same though, they all have their different approaches and nuances. Lindon is borderline neurotic with his need to catch up to his peers throughout the story, so he takes every shortcut and cheat feasible to him. Yerin is a hard-edged cynic who gradually comes to trust and love her allies. Eithan is a popinjay whose flamboyant good-humor contrasts sharply with how seriously he takes his goals. Orthos is the mentor who believes his path is nearly over, but must find new purpose when he revitalized. Mercy is a perpetual optimist who must come to terms with the “rule of the strong” philosophy of Cradle. Dross, with powers unique to any entity in Cradle, has grapple with his own sense of personal worthlessness. Ziel, one of the individuals who has been ground under the heel of those more powerful than him, struggles to not only rebuild himself, but also to find a reason worth doing so. And Little Blue is the group’s cheerleader, until she isn’t. All of these characters bring different abilities and mindsets to the story. Watching all of them grow is one of my favorite things about Cradle.
Someone Who Can Do the Voices
I have hundreds of fantasy audiobooks in my library, and for quite a while the gold standard for narrators was the husband-wife duo Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. Among others, they combined to read Robert Jordan’s epic series, The Wheel of Time, and later, the majority of Brandon Sanderson’s books set in his Cosmere universe. Michael and Kate both have smooth, resonant voices with enough variation that I always have a good idea about which character is talking. Aside from some inconsistencies when it comes to pronunciations and accents (generally when switching narrators), they always put forth a solid performance that makes for a pleasant audiobook experience.
That said, Travis Baldree, the narrator of the Cradle books (and many, many others) is the first narrator who has consistently been able to draw me into the setting with his ability to do different voices. Ironically, his best voice is that of a tiny old woman who serves as one of Lindon’s mentors. Starkly different from Travis’s resonant deadpan that he narrates events with, his high-pitched Fisher Gesha voice manages to convincingly portray someone who is simultaneous fond of her student while being exasperated by his antics. And Baldree does it with all the characters. You can hear Lindon’s drive and curiosity, Yerin’s hard edges, Eithan’s flamboyance, Mercy’s good cheer, and Ziel’s weariness. I’ve found certain portions of his performance so funny that I’ve clipped them just to have them at hand if I need a chuckle.
It’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve now bought many audiobooks because Travis Baldree was narrating them. The fact that he is the narrator of one of my favorite fantasy worlds is ultimately what gives Cradle the edge over all of the other audiobooks that I own.
Hard Work is Never Wasted
Up to this point, everything about Cradle makes it a great piece of entertainment, but what brings it to the level of my favorites is the extent to which its themes resonant with me as being deeply and profoundly true. I had a feeling that I would love this story from early in the first book when Lindon is told by someone who ascended to functional godhood that “hard work is never wasted.” Lindon committed to that path and Will Wight shows us for twelve books how hard he works. How he undertakes two sacred arts paths, how he deliberately handicaps himself in his training to force himself to work harder, how he approaches fights with those who initially outclass him only to utterly devour them in the end. It may be a fantasy setting, but it is what hard work paying off looks like.